6PR’s Rumour File was sent a snapshot of the team photo session showing an unfamiliar face standing to the right of regular Eagles player Mitch Brown.

The mystery player was quickly identified as the team’s media officer, Ben Roberts, who was an outstanding player in local leagues.

Speculation was that West Coast had discovered a loophole for Roberts to take a place in the teams roster and escape the prying eyes of rival clubs.

Sadly for Ben the reality is far from his dream of pulling on the Eagles colours in a more permanent on-field role.

The West Coast Eagles had to use the unusual step of using a body double in the team photo to fill in for an injured player.

The young media officer was given the call up after ruckman Callum Sinclair had to have scans on an injured finger and was unable to make the photo shoot.

Management at the Eagles decides Ben would stand in for the winged Eagle and have his head swapped for Sinclair’s using photo manipulation software Photoshop later.

A quick look at the stats of both Callum and Ben reveals that both men do have a similar build but Sinclair does have almost 3 inches on the Roberts’ frame.

Something worth looking for when the 2015 team photo comes out.